Hageland Costa Rica 71%

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on December 20 2009 | Leave A Comment
Hageland Costa Rica

Walmart is filled with controversy, yet despite their questionability, they do have an impressive chocolate selection these days. The usual averages are there, but so are some nicer brands. I’d never heard of Hageland, a Belgian company, before; the five or so bars on the shelf looked worth giving a try. I came away with just the first one to get my attention.

It was all about the picture — not your usual chocolate cover. I wish they said something about it, though. Did they just think it looked cool? Or is it an artifact from Costa Rica, where the trinitario cacao is from? Anyway, for a first try, 71% is a good place to start. The Rainforest Alliance stamp implies that Hageland is a serious company. As does the no-junk ingredients list of cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla.

Hageland Costa Rica

I found myself intently studying the design of the bar itself once I’d ripped off its coverings. The eight large, Lindt-sized squares have raised edges on the top and bottom, with the face in the middle lifted to a gentle curve. It makes the chocolate look elegant and strong at the same time. The aroma is filled with deep cocoa.

The flavor is a bit bitter, but tempered with plenty of cocoa notes. The spice is even held down by some shy sweetness hiding in the dark. It has a good mouthfeel, as well. I’m rather liking it. I can’t decided whether I should call it “simple” or “bold,” so turning to the back of the box, part of the description calls it a “delightfully traditional smooth dark chocolate.” “Traditional” encapsulates it. The simplicity comes from going for a chocolate format that works, while the boldness comes from the enjoyable flavors. Traditional, not average.

It’s certainly nice to find something like this in a place like Walmart, where you can actually find it without going out of your way. This bar seems like it’ll appeal to a variety of dark chocolate lovers. I don’t know what the “limited selection” on the front means, though; maybe you’ll need to hurry if you want to try it.

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Comments On This Post

  1. David

    I have tried their chocolate and like them as well. Even the 80% dark chocolate bar.
    Do you know who owns Hageland Chocolate? I have never heard about them and their website does not give much information.

    • OJ

      See Fons’ comment below about the brand – which is crafted by a Belgian manufacturer and sold by Wal-Mart. I was afraid they had discontinued it a few months ago when I couldn’t find any, but last month they had some more.

  2. Steve

    I found one bar 71% Dark Chocolate tried it Love it I want more wall mart had them on clearance they don’t have any more.
    I would like to buy more of this Costa Rica Dark Chocolate!

    • Carol

      I discovered Hageland chocolate at Walmart. My favorite is Costa Rica but either they don’t carry that one any longer or someone always beats me to it. Where else can I find it?

  3. Hageland is a brand,developped exclusively for Walmart. It is the name of a small rural regio East from Brussels, between the small towns of Leuven, Aarschot,Tienen and Diest. That’s the reason why our factory name is not mentioned on the products.

    We are one of the largest artisan manufacturers in Belgium and we are known for our top quality products. We are working in probably the greenest chocolate factory in Europe. Our energy comes for 20% from our own nearly 3000 solar panels and the rest is bought from only natural sources like hydro, solar and wind.

    At this moment we do work very hard on sustainability issues.

    • Linda Hoagland

      I recently stumbled on this chocolate through a friend who bought some for fathers day, and happened to notice the the name was spelled close to mine. My huband I believe is from Hungry. Interesting. Where does the Hageland come from.

      Linda

    • Rita Huston

      Please, Please where can we buy that wonderful chocolate bar. It is the best. Rita Huston I live in NH and now Walmart does not carry it anymore. Any other place to buy it?

  4. how can i get somthing like this in my store, i love how it looks on the shelf can care less what it is people love it, i know its just for walmart but is there any that they make that looks like this that other stores can sale?

  5. OJ

    Also I was surprised to find chocolate this good at WalMart. As good as any I’ve had, inccluding Lindt and Scharffen Barger. On top of that, the bar was reasonable priced, around $2.40 each. They also have Peru and Uganda varieties, but this 2was the best, with an intensity more than a boldness. If you see some, buy a few. Plus it’s not at every Wal Mart, just the Super Wal Marts as far as I can tell.

  6. frosgrok

    Decent high end dark bar. I bought it @ a clearance place, so Walmart may be dropping it. Hope the company does well.

  7. Tyler Reynolds

    Hello, I stumbled apon this site just seeing about information on hageland chocolate. I am in the processe of trying chocolates to try and get a good feel of what I would use and offer in my shop once opened.(I too agree that this chocolate is nice, diffrent(not used to finding realy good chocolate in my store, I work at a super center for now) and a good price, I’m the person who would pay just about any price for good, quality chocolate(on a side noat I’ve been thinking on ordering some Callebaut chocolate, as sofar it seems well balanced, and at roughly $4 to $7-ish a pound, reasonable)

    Anyway to the chocolate.

    I have tried all three, costa rica(71%), Uganda(80%), and peru(64%). And all are very nice, easy melting, nice snap, very well tempered(and no added “crap” I HATE added crap) well anyway, each was indeed diffrent, a diffrent mouth feel, and if I do say so the chocolate didn’t leave a “burnt” or “overly bitter” after taste like some other chocolate.

    There’s only one thing to do now, see if I can purches the chocolate in larger amounts(any one know where I can order 10 lbs at a time? Block or wafer is fine by me)

    Hmm, all in all, a very nicly balanced chocolate in my opinion.

  8. chocohound

    I’m not a fan of behemoth suppliers like Walmart, but Amazon does now carry some varieties of this chocolate, oddly now named “Cachet.”

    • “Cachet” is a French word and has different meanings. One of those is “style”.
      When you see somebody elegantly dressed, we say: that person has cachet.

      It is a brand of our company for premium chocolate products we sell in supermarkets. The Hägeland brand is a kind of private label brand, we created for Walmart.

      • David

        where in Omaha NE can Hageland be bought. As it has disappeared off their shelves and new stock hasnt appeared since new packaging

  9. Maria

    So who else carrys it and what does the wrapper look like? Those of us who got “hooked” on this HAGELAND PREMIUM BELGIAN DARK CHOCOLATE Bar….what are we to do? Where can we find it other than in a wrapper for Walmart on Ebay?

    • You may find it in most WholeFoods stores under the WholeFoods brand together with a milk chocolate, based on cocoa beans from Madagascar, a milk and dark organic/fair for life chocolate tablet made form cocoa beans from a special project in Tanzania and supporting our school project over there, a milk caramel & sea salt and a dark pear & roasted almonds.

      Also have a look around for the Cachet version of these products, but they do not have yet good distribution.

    • Ryerson

      You can still buy this large bar at the Walmart near Easton, PA. I just bought it today. Does anyone know if it is slave free chocolate?

  10. Maria

    I have not found the others that you recommended…is there any chance the Hageland bar will be back at Walmart?

  11. Judy McCune

    I just ate the last of my Hageland bar. Glad to hear we’ll soon find it again in Wal Mart stores. I hadn’t found a replacement. No Whole Food stores near.

  12. fons

    This format will be replaced by a smaller 10.5 oz. Version. Will be in stores any oment now.

  13. Radar

    I loved the plain milk chocolate bar— I never liked chocolate until I ate the Hageland bar. Will Wallmart be getting the Milk Chocolate again or is there somewhere else I can find it?
    Thx

  14. Karen

    I live in ND, use to be able to buy the Hageland bars in Billings,MT. Now I can not find it anywhere in ND or Mt. Can anyone tell me what Wallmart stores to check on line to order these fantastic chocolate bars?
    Thank you

  15. Jim

    I found Hageland Dark chocolate at the Super Mall Walmart in Auburn, Wa.
    It comes in a 10.5 oz bar. It is 53% cacao. This is the only Walmart I could find
    in Washington that has it. I don’t know why others don’t have it. It is also at a
    Walmart in LasVegas but is out of stock at this time.

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